The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Corinthians — Section 487

ma.ri has no evidence of a future state, nor that, on the supposition that there is no future life,_ the practic~ of virtue is not to be preferred to that of vice. It is imr,I icd that the higher the object of our hope, and the more of the soul that goes into it, the more overwhelmingly crushing will be the disappointment. The man who has thrown his whole soul into Christianity, and who reaches a point where he is convinced. of its imposture, is at that moment "of all men the most miserable." ll. Conclusions resulting from the denial of CHRIST'S RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD. There are three conclusions here resulting from the denial of this fact. 1. That apostolic Christianity is vain. "If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." It is vain, void, an empty. phantom, a worthless fiction. The resurrection of Christ was the foundation stone in the temple of Paul's teaching. Take that stone away, then it falls and becomes worthless rubbish. But not only is preaching vain, and your faith vain, we ourselves are "false witnesses." ·we are impostors. Can you believe this? What motives have we to impose? 'l'he supposition either that they taught falsehood, that the disciples believed false- hood, or thaL they were "false witnesses," is eternally inadmissible. Hence Christ did rise from the dead. 2. That the faith of the disciples was vain. "Your faith is .also vain." What a wreck of faith is involved in the denial of Christ's resurrection! Then (1) faith in the credibility of historic testimony is vain. On what stronger his- torical testimony can any fact rest than that of the resurrection of Christ? Then (2) faith in the accuracy of philosophic deduction is vain. The rapid progress of Christianity in the Roman empire in its first stages, and its subsequent influence throu~hout the world, reveal a mass of phenomena which you cannot account for if you deny the resurrection of Christ. Then (3) faith in the moral value of character is vain. Did a nobler character than Christ's ever exist? And yet if he rose not, then is he an impostor. Then (4) faith in the righteous government of God is vain. If a being so transcendently excellent as Christ is to be crushed for e,er in the grave, where is the justice of Heaven? Verily, if our faith in the resurrection of Christ is vain, of what worth is any faith? 3. That the followers of Christ are still in. thei1- sins. lt is here implied that faith in Christ can alone take men out of their sins. This is a fact grounded on history, consciousness, and the gospel. But the Christians at Corinth were conscious that they had got out of their sins, to a certain degree at least. "Such were some of you; but ye are washed," etc. Consciousness the highest ultimate ari;ument, protested against Paul's hypothesis that they were still in their sins; hence it goes to verify the fact of the resurrection of Christ. Vers. 20-23.-The resurrect·ion of Christ. "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfrnits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. l!'or as in Adam all die, even so in Christ sha.11 :ill be made .alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; aftenvard they that are Christ's at his coming." These verses lend us to contemplate the resurrection of Christ as an established fact, as a significant fact, and as an influential fact. I. AN ESTABLISHED FACT. Paul asserts this fact with a spirit of triumphant certitude. This fact is established: 1. On the testimony of the most competent witnesses. A com- 11etent witness is one who has a thorough knowledge of the facts whereof he affirms, and such an invincible love for truth as would render it utterly impossible for him to misrepresent them. The apostles were witnesses of this type. 2. On the very existence -0/ Christendom. What gave birth to that domain amongst the peoples of the race called Christendom? The gospel; and the truth of the gospel rests on the resurrection of Christ. 3. On the consciousness of genuine disciples. Such consciousness attests that they are "not in their sins," that they have got more or Jess free from their thralclom and dominion, and they feel that this deliverance came from tho gospel. II. A SIGNIFICANT FACT. "Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first- fruits of them that slept." 'l'he reference here is to the "firstfruits" of the harvest which were offered by the priests unto the Lord (see Lev. xxiii. 12-19). Those firstfruits were both an earnest and a sample of the full harvest at hand. Hence Christ's resurrection was regarded: 1. As a pledge of the resurrection of those who were dead. As he rose so will all rise. 2. As a puttern of the resurrection of those who were dead. 'Jhe sheaf waved before the Lord was a specimen or sample of what remained in the (9G THE FrnST EPISTLE '1'0 THE COIUNTilIANS. [cu. xv. 1-58.